In Texas You Must Cheer Your Rapist!

I’m not sure we ever blogged about the case of a Texas cheerleader who got kicked off the cheerleading squad for not cheering for her convicted assailant. Well, we should have, and I’m going to mention it now that it’s taken a final turn for the worse.

Here’s the background: a 16-year-old cheerleader in Silsbee, Texas, said she was sexually assaulted by a star of her high school football team at a party. The next year, at a basketball game, her alleged rapist — who also plays basketball — took a free throw. The cheerleader refused to cheer for him. She was kicked off her team for it.

She and her parents sued school officials and the school district for infringing on her freedom of speech (or in this case, her freedom to not cheer for her convicted attacker). They lost in September, 2010 before one of the more conservative courts in the country.